


Connect Four(ce)

by Theyna_Shipper



Series: Star Wars One-Shots [21]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: (sort of), AT CONNECT FOUR NOT ON EACH OTHER, Board Games, Connect Four, Crack, F/M, Fluff, Force Bond (Star Wars), I'd say idiots in love but mostly they're just idiots, Mutual Pining, Secret Relationship, They both cheat, This started as Crack but it got feels along the way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:01:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24919516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theyna_Shipper/pseuds/Theyna_Shipper
Summary: “Rose says it’s something she used to play with her sister, but I can’t figure it out.”“Was there anything else with it?”“Yeah, there were some bits and a set of checkers.”His lips twitch with what might be the faintest of smiles. “I remember that game. I can teach you.”“Really? That would be great.”~~~~~~~~~These two play Connect Four through the Force Bond.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Star Wars One-Shots [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1637683
Comments: 8
Kudos: 80





	Connect Four(ce)

**Author's Note:**

> Is there a story here? Well, I came across this image:
> 
> https://www.reddit.com/r/SequelMemes/comments/7sz58b/why_does_the_force_keep_connecting_us/
> 
> Somehow I came to the conclusion that these two would definitely play connect four through the bond and would use the Force to cheat. That's how this happened. Please enjoy.

Rey is used to seeing Ben pop up in her peripheral vision as their bond settles into place. It is accompanied by a dull sort of hum that can be either soothing or upsetting, telling her that whether she wants it or not, she will have someone to talk to. While they’ve picked up a cordial relationship since Crait, it can still be tense and uncomfortable. 

Today, however, Rey is in a good mood when their bond activates. So, apparently, is Ben. He is unusually relaxed, his presence in the Force quiet and almost placid.

“What’s that?” he asks, looking at the little wooden game board spinning in her hands. 

“I don’t actually know,” she admits. “Rose gave it to me for my birthday.”

“It’s your birthday? I didn’t know.”

“Me neither. But some of the med-droids said they could approximate my date of birth based on my medical data. It’s probably wrong, but-” she shrugs. “It’s fun.”

“Well, happy birthday,” he replies. “I didn’t get you anything.”

She smiles. “That’s fine.” Rey continues to fiddle with the funny grid of holes. “Rose says it’s something she used to play with her sister, but I can’t figure it out.”

“Was there anything else with it?”

“Yeah, there were some bits and a set of checkers.”

His lips twitch with what might be the faintest of smiles. “I remember that game. I can teach you.”

“Really? That would be great.” On an active military base, Rey rarely has time to unwind or anyone to relax with. And she doesn’t really know any games except drinking games (which she is _very_ good at). 

In a few minutes, Rey has brought all the pieces and laid them out on the floor, and Ben has shown her how to set it up. 

“It’s a fairly simple game. You’re just supposed to line up four of your color- horizontally, vertically, or diagonally- before your opponent can.” 

Rey hands him the bin of checkers. 

“The light ones go first,” he explains. The checkers are made of either bleached or stained wood. He guides her through a game and a couple strategies before they start playing for real.

* * *

The game becomes a standard figure of their Force-prompted encounters. It is a way to occupy themselves while conversing, the simple children’s game giving their hands something to do, and the satisfying _click_ of the game pieces filling awkward silences. 

They stick to a formula, with Ben playing the light checkers and Rey with the dark ones. She notes the irony, but it still seems right. 

The tension between them slowly starts to dissolve as they let themselves talk and pull down some of their shields around each other. 

While they can’t control it, the bond seems to feed off the strength of their emotions for each other. In the beginning it was hate and fear and confusion, but now it is… something different. Is it just her imagination, or are they connecting more frequently now?

* * *

Their night and day cycles don’t always line up. Now, for instance, Rey is in a night cycle, her hair hanging loosely about her shoulders, while for Ben it is afternoon, and he is having lunch in his chambers. 

“What’s that?” Rey asks, indicating the fruit he is eating. It’s not one she recognizes, round and juicy with yellow flesh. 

“This? It’s a nectarine.” Ben takes another slice, then notices Rey watching. He smiles a little, realizing she’s both hungry and curious about this food. “If you win the next round, I’ll let you have the rest of it.”

Her eyes widen. “Really?” She’s gambled for food before, but that was just for rations, and they were bitter and high-stakes. “You’re so on.” 

Rey’s competitive instincts kick in immediately, and she finds herself taking the game far more seriously than Ben. 

Really, he wants her to win. But he also figures she won’t accept ‘charity’, so he offers it as a challenge and a game- one that he does not try very hard at. He’s a competitive person most of the time, but willing to make an exception for Rey. 

Predictably, Rey wins. He picks up the fruit and carefully hands it to her, quietly intrigued by how the object passes across space so easily. 

Juice starts dribbling down her chin from the first bite. Ben reaches out with a napkin to wipe it away, both of them giggling and struggling to keep it from dripping elsewhere.

Her skin feels electric as his finger brushes her lips for a split second, the first time they’ve touched since that moment on Ach-To. 

“Thanks,” she mutters quietly, then bites into the nectarine again.

* * *

“It was more fun when we were betting,” Rey remarks. 

“Hm?”

“When you bet your food on that one game. It made it more exciting.” Of course, it’s not very Jedi-like to gamble over a game- with an enemy _and_ a dark side user- but she hasn’t been much of a one for adhering to the Jedi code. 

“Are you sure?” he asks with a smirk. 

“If you think you’re more competitive than me, than you’re about to be very disappointed.”

“We’ll see.”

That’s how the game of betting on the victory for little things starts. The games are more or less evenly split, but the random trades make it more exciting and a little electric, even when Rey has to hide her secret prizes.

* * *

“What do you want to wager on this time?”

Rey grins. “Your cape.” 

“ _My cape?_ ”

She nods. “It looks so warm and comfortable. I want it.”

He sighs. “Fine. If you win this round, I will give you my cape.”

There’s a moment towards the end of the game when he turns his head away to take care of a droid, and Rey notices a move. She’d need two, though, and Ben could probably block her in time. Unless. 

Quickly and subtly, she reaches out with the Force to move one of her other checkers. She _wants_ that cape, and he could get another one any time. 

Two moves later, Rey has won, and Ben is reluctantly handing her his cape. It’s warm and smells like his cologne. She holds it close and burrows her face into it. It is as soft and comfortable as she could have imagined. 

“Wait a minute,” Ben says looking down at the board. “That piece was there before. You moved it?”

“What?”

“You cheated! You moved it when my back was turned, didn’t you?”

Rey’s cheeks rise in a blush. There’s no point in hiding it; he can certainly read her surface emotions without even trying. “Fine, I may have meddled a bit.”

“You cheated, Rey. You have to give that back.” He gestures to his cape. 

Rey pouts, holding onto it tighter. 

“Rey.”

She sighs, and hands it back. “I’ll get it from you eventually.”

“We’ll see.”

* * *

Ben feels a little guilty asking for anything from Rey, she has so little already. Most of the time, he’ll ask for something small and inconsequential, that still- your bootlaces, your hairband- or something she can scavenge- _something pretty_ , he asks once- or something intangible: _Tell me a secret._

Sooner or later, he ends up with a magpie-like collection of things Rey has given him- a hair tie, a rock, a bird feather. He could have any of them analyzed to find the Resistance’s location, but he will not. That’s not what his bond with Rey is for. 

Everytime Rey hands him a useless trinket, Ben reminds himself that it’s just a stupid game. But every time their fingers brush a little across the board.

* * *

“We’re running out of things to bet on,” Rey jokes. “What now?”

“A kiss.”

_”What?”_ She feels her cheeks grow hot. Has he sensed her thoughts through the Bond, is he doing this just to mock her?

“If I win, I get a kiss,” he says simply. “Same rules as always.”

What is this, some dumb playground game, trading in kisses? It won’t be anything real, or important. Just a kiss. Just a game. “You’re on.”

Rey is fidgety and distracted through the game, not sure if she wants to win or lose. The distraction more or less decides the game: she loses, and now must follow through on the bet. 

Rey props herself up on the floor and slowly leans towards Ben. She is no stranger to touching him through the bond: a brush of hands while the play, their teasing ruffles of each other’s hair. But this is very different. 

Closing her eyes, she tips forward slightly and bounces her lips clumsily off his. It lasts half a second and barely even counts as a kiss. 

Rey turns her flaming cheeks down to the board. That’s when she notices- that piece wasn’t there before was it?

“You cheated.”

Ben remains silent, turning his head away. 

“You _cheated._ And I kissed you!”

“You cheat too!”

“Yes, but I _kissed_ you!” she exclaims, offended. 

He looks suitably embarrassed. “I’m sorry.”

“You know the rule,” Rey sighs. “You cheated. Now you have to give it back.”

“I- what?”

“I gave you a kiss, but you cheated. Now you have to give it back.”

Ben reaches out and tilts her chin up. “That is the rule.”

Carefully, tentatively, he closes the space between them, returning the kiss in kind, and then some. 

Rey breathes slowly and heavily as he gently releases her lips. Their eyes stay locked, nervous but excited. “Another round?” she asks softly.

“No,” Ben says, his eyes flickering down to her lips. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Yeah,” Rey whispers. “Me neither.”

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments appreciated!


End file.
